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AALLLLEEGGHHEENNYY CCOOUUNNTTYY 99--11--11

CCOOMMMMUUNNIICCAATTIIOONNSS CCEENNTTEERR

SSttaannddaarrdd OOppeerraattiinngg

GGuuiiddeelliinneess ffoorr FFiirree CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonnss

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AALLLLEEGGHHEENNYY CCOOUUNNTTYY 99--11--11 CCOOMMMMUUNNIICCAATTIIOONNSS CCEENNTTEERR SSTTAANNDDAARRDD OOPPEERRAATTIINNGG GGUUIIDDEELLIINNEESS FFOORR FFIIRREE

TTAABBLLEE OOFF CCOONNTTEENNTTSS

GGEENNEERRAALL FFIIRREE RRAADDIIOO GGUUIIDDEELLIINNEESS 11.. IIddeennttiiffiiccaattiioonn ooff tthhee CCeenntteerr 44 22.. IIddeennttiiffyyiinngg FFiirree SSttaattiioonnss,, LLiinnee OOffffiicceerrss aanndd AAppppaarraattuuss 44 33.. AApppprroovvaall ooff RRaaddiioo DDeessiiggnnaattiioonnss 44 44.. SSttaannddaarrdd OOffffiicceerr DDeessiiggnnaattiioonnss 44--66 55.. AAddddiinngg SSppeecciiffiicc UUnniittss ttoo AAccttiivvee CCaallllss 77--99 66.. CCAADD UUnniitt aanndd RRuunn CCaarrdd CChhaannggeess 1100 77.. CCaallll--uupp PPrroocceedduurree 1100 8. Acknowledgement/Echoing 11 99.. AAffffiirrmmaattiivvee oorr NNeeggaattiivvee 1111 1100.. AAuutthhoorriizzeedd RRaaddiioo//FFrreeqquueennccyy UUssee 1111 1111.. LLiimmiittiinngg RReessppoonnddiinngg TTrraannssmmiissssiioonnss 1122 1122.. CCoommpplliimmeennttaarryy RReemmaarrkkss 1122 1133.. PPeerrssoonnaall MMeessssaaggeess 1122 1144.. CCoooorrddiinnaattiioonn ooff MMeessssaaggeess 1122 1155.. FFrreeqquueennccyy UUssee RReessttrriiccttiioonnss 1122 1166.. DDeessccrriibbiinngg FFiirree//RReessccuuee EEmmeerrggeenncciieess 1133 SSPPEECCIIFFIICC FFIIRREE//RREESSCCUUEE DDIISSPPAATTCCHHIINNGG 11.. IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn 1155 22.. TTeelleeccoommmmuunniiccaattoorr RReessppoonnssiibbiilliittiieess 1155 33.. CCAADD 1155 44.. CCAADD NNaarrrraattiivveess 1155 55.. DDiissppaattcchh FFoorrmmaatt//CCaaddeenncceess 1166

oo NNoonn--SSttrruuccttuurree RReessppoonnsseess 1177 oo SSttrruuccttuurree RReessppoonnsseess 1188 oo DDiissppaattcchhiinngg AAccrroossss ZZoonneess 1188 oo DDiissppaattcchhiinngg FFiirree DDeeppaarrttmmeennttss ffrroomm ddiiffffeerreenntt ddiissppaattcchh ddeesskkss wwiitthhiinn tthhee ssaammee 1199

zzoonnee ttoo tthhee ssaammee iinncciiddeenntt oo TTyyppee CCooddee UUppddaattee//FFiirree DDeeppaarrttmmeenntt RRee--TToonnee 1199--2200 oo RRee--AAccttiivvaattiioonnss 2200 oo AAddddiittiioonnaall AAllaarrmmss//SSppeecciiaall RReeqquueessttss 2211 oo FFiilllliinngg OOuutt//CCoommpplleettiinngg RRuunn CCaarrddss 2222 oo FFiirrsstt RReessppoonnddeerr//QQRRSS RReessppoonnsseess 2222--2233

66.. EEaasstt ZZoonnee SSppeecciiffiicc FFiirree DDiissppaattcchhiinngg 2233--2266 77.. NNoorrtthh ZZoonnee ((NNoorrtthhwweesstt)) SSppeecciiffiicc FFiirree DDiissppaattcchhiinngg 2277 88.. NNoorrtthh ZZoonnee ((NNEEWWCCOOMM)) SSppeecciiffiicc FFiirree DDiissppaattcchhiinngg 2288--2299 99.. NNoorrtthh ZZoonnee ((AAlllleegghheennyy VVaalllleeyy)) SSppeecciiffiicc FFiirree DDiissppaattcchhiinngg 3300 1100.. SSoouutthh ZZoonnee ((SSoouutthhwweesstt)) SSppeecciiffiicc FFiirree DDiissppaattcchhiinngg 3311--3322 1111.. SSoouutthh ZZoonnee ((SSoouutthh HHiillllss)) SSppeecciiffiicc FFiirree DDiissppaattcchhiinngg 3333 1122.. CCeennttrraall ZZoonnee ((PPiittttssbbuurrgghh)) SSppeecciiffiicc FFiirree DDiissppaattcchhiinngg 3344 1133.. SSttaattuuss CChheecckk oonn IInncciiddeennttss 3355 1144.. GGoo//RRIITT TTeeaammss 3355 1155.. PPAARR –– PPeerrssoonnnneell AAccccoouunnttaabbiilliittyy RReeppoorrttiinngg 3355

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AALLLLEEGGHHEENNYY CCOOUUNNTTYY 99--11--11 CCOOMMMMUUNNIICCAATTIIOONNSS CCEENNTTEERR SSTTAANNDDAARRDD OOPPEERRAATTIINNGG GGUUIIDDEELLIINNEESS FFOORR FFIIRREE

TTAABBLLEE OOFF CCOONNTTEENNTTSS CCOONNTTIINNUUEEDD

1166.. EEvvaaccuuaattiioonn PPoolliiccyy 3366 1177.. PPrriioorriittyy MMeessssaaggeess 3377 1188.. MMaayy DDaayy PPoolliiccyy 3377 1199.. EEcchhooiinngg//RRee--BBrrooaaddccaassttiinngg ooff MMeessssaaggeess 3388 2200.. PPrriioorriittiieess,, RReessppoonnssee TTiimmeess && RReessppoonnssee FFaaiilluurreess 3399--4400 2211.. AAcckknnoowwlleeddggeemmeenntt ooff CCaallllss 4400 2222.. UUnniitt SSttaattuuss 4400 2233.. RReessppoonnssee LLeevveellss//CChhaannggeess 4411 2244.. SScceennee SSaaffeettyy 4411 2255.. RRaaddiioo AAlleerrttiinngg//PPaaggiinngg--GGeenneerraall AAnnnnoouunncceemmeennttss 4411 2266.. AAllpphhaa NNuummeerriicc PPaaggiinngg 4422 2277.. IInncciiddeenntt SSttaattuuss CChhaannggee 4422 2288.. IInncciiddeennttss RReeppoorrtteedd DDiirreeccttllyy ffrroomm AAggeenncciieess 4422 2299.. IInncciiddeenntt CCaanncceellllaattiioonnss 4433 3300.. MMeeddiiccaall HHeelliiccoopptteerr RReeqquueessttss 4444 3311.. SSttoorrmm MMooddee OOppeerraattiioonnss 4455--4466 3322.. PPllaacciinngg UUnniittss OOuutt ooff SSeerrvviiccee iinn CCAADD 4466 3333.. PPaaggeerr//SSiirreenn TTeessttiinngg AAnnnnoouunncceemmeennttss 4477 3344.. RRooaadd CClloossuurree && HHyyddrraanntt OOOOSS NNoottiiffiiccaattiioonnss 4488--4499 3355.. AAssssiisstt CCooddeess 5500 3366.. FFiirree DDeeppaarrttmmeenntt MMoovvee UUppss 5511--5544 3377.. PPaaiidd DDeeppaarrttmmeenntt OOffff--DDuuttyy NNoottiiffiiccaattiioonnss 5555--5566

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GENERAL FIRE RADIO GUIDELINES 1. IDENTIFICATON OF THE CENTER On all Fire radio channels/frequencies, Allegheny County 9-1-1 Fire Dispatching shall be identified as "County" by all fire departments that we provide services to. 2. IDENTIFYING FIRE APPARATUS AND OFFICERS All fire stations, units and personnel are assigned a specific county number. These numbers are to be used at all times when radio communications are involved. 3. APPROVAL OF RADIO DESIGNATIONS Unit designations, both number and apparatus type, used in radio communications must be approved by the Communications Manager. There shall be standardization of apparatus designations. No other terms will be recognized by this center. 4. STANDARD OFFICER DESIGNATIONS All officers will adhere to and use only official Allegheny County assigned numbers; which are assigned to them, when communicating with the 9-1-1 Center. FIRE CHIEF: Is considered a Chief Officer. Is the highest ranking fire department line officer ASSISTANT CHIEF: Is considered a Chief Officer. Is usually the 2nd highest ranking line officer DEPUTY CHIEF: Is considered a Chief Officer. Is usually the 2nd or 3rd highest ranking line officer BATTALION CHIEF: Is considered a Chief Officer. Can be the highest ranking fire department official, but is usually the 2nd or 3rd CAPTAIN: Is considered a Junior Officer and is below an Asst. Chief, Deputy Chief or Battalion Chief LIEUTENANT: Is considered a Junior Officer and is below a Captain SERGEANT: Is considered a Junior Officer and is below a Lieutenant SAFETY OFFICER: In charge of firefighter safety on the fire ground. Is not considered a line officer

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ENGINEER: In charge of vehicle maintenance. Is not considered a line officer FIRE MARSHALL: Trained in investigates fires FIRE POLICE : Controls traffic at public safety incidents such as fires and accidents Line Officer Radio Designations All Fire Officers will be identified on the radio by calling their department/company number first, preceded by his/her rank. If a department has more than one of a specific rank, then they will be identified by adding a 1, 2 or 3 after the department number. Fire Chief Examples: Aleppo VFD Fire Chief 101 Chief Spring Garden VFD Fire Chief 240 Chief Bower Hill VFD Fire Chief 255 Chief White Oak VFD Fire Chief 299 Chief Assistant Fire Chief Examples: Bellevue VFD Asst. Fire Chief 108 Assistant Liberty VFD Asst. Fire Chief 183 Assistant 1 Undercliff VFD Asst. Fire Chief 264 Assistant 2 Deputy Chief Examples: Swissvale FD Deputy Chief 1 278 Deputy 1 United Fire Rescue 287 Deputy

Battalion Chief Examples: McKeesport FD 190 Battalion 3 Captains Examples: Carnegie VFD Captain 118 Captain Etna VFD Captain 1 149 Captain 1 Central VFD Captain 3 147 Captain 3 West View VFD Captain 2 297 Captain 2

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Lieutenants Examples: Aspinwall VFD Lieutenant 102 Lieutenant Bridgeville VFD Lieutenant 3 117 Lieutenant 3 Berkeley VFD Lieutenant 2 247 Lieutenant 2 Sergeants Examples: Bauerstown VFD Sergeant 3 259 Sergeant 3 Springdale Twp VFD Sergeant 1 274 Sergeant 1 Wilkins Twp VFC #3 Sergeant 2 303 Sergeant 2 Safety Officers Examples: Bellevue VFD 108 Safety West Park VFD 276 Safety Engineers Examples: Kirwin Heights VFD 124 Engineer Sewickley VFD 258 Engineer 2

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5. ADDING SPECIFIC UNIT(S) TO ACTIVE CALLS

When a fire agency makes a request a specific piece of apparatus to assist; the TCO shall use the FILL command to obtain the next due of that type of equipment. Type FILL on the command line and the call number (or unit ID) and tab. The command line will automatically populate with “Priority”. The priority will be the specific type of equipment you are requesting (see below list of acronyms).

The message display box will appear. Under the title “Unit Suggestion (URM) will be a list of the specific type of equipment you requested and in the order they are due on this particular assignment. If the next due (in this example) ENGINE is already out on a call; that engine would not display in the Unit Suggestion (URM) line.

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Fire Resources EN – ENGINE (TELESQUIRTS) RE – RESCUE ENGINE TK – TRUCK RQ – RESCUE AR – AIR BR – BRUSH BT – BOAT CV – COMMAND VEHICLE DT – DIVE TEAMS FM – FIRE MARSHAL FP – FIRE POLICE MN – MAN POWER MP – MINI PUMPER QR – QRS RH – REHAB RI – RIT RQ – RESCUE SQ – SQUAD SS – SPECIAL SERVICE (SOV) TN – TANKER TR – TECHNICAL RESCUE EMS Resources AL – ALS TRANSPORT UNIT BL – BLS TRANSPORT UNIT

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Important Notes:

Currently this command only works for fire and EMS.

If more than 1 unit type needs replaced the TCO will re-run the command with the additional Unit/resource type(s) needing replaced.

Any unit appearing in the unit/resource suggestion list has the capability being

requested. If a rescue appears in an engine search, that company has identified it to have engine capabilities.

When in the priority field; you can press F1 to get the above abbreviations for

units  VEHICLE DEFINITIONS AIR UNIT – Vehicle that has the ability to fill air bottles BOAT – Boats are used for water rescue/recovery incidents BRUSH TRUCK – Typically not set up for structural firefighting. Smaller pump and tank sizes than mini pumpers. Usually does not carry SCBA or ground ladders and usually does not have a hose bed. COMMAND UNITS/CHIEFS VEHICLES – Command vehicles come in many sizes. Most are used by chief officers to respond to incidents. Some command units are large vehicles and used as mobile command posts. There are only a few of these units in the county. DIVE UNIT – A team of trained personnel that respond to water rescue events. ENGINE/PUMPER – An engine will have the capacity to pump greater than 750 GPM and carry structural fire fighting equipment. FOAM UNIT – A vehicle that carrier foam product to incidents to assist if putting out fires. HAZMAT UNIT – A vehicle that carries special equipment and resources, that responds to incidents where hazardous materials are involved. MINI PUMPER – A mini pumper will: Pump 750 GPM or less, have a hose bed, carry ground ladders and less than 500 gallons of water and be set up for structural firefighting. MOBILE UNITS – Vehicles that are used to transport personnel

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QRS (QUICK RESPONSE SERVICE) – A vehicle that is used for medical emergencies and carries EMS equipment and transported trained medical personnel. RESCUE TRUCK – The minimum requirements for a vehicle to be classified as a rescue truck in Allegheny County are as follows: Must carry a hydraulic rescue tool, air operated tools capable of vehicle extrication, vehicle stabilization equipment, air bags, state certified vehicle rescue technicians and basic rope rescue equipment. RESCUE-ENGINE – A vehicle that can perform engine operations as well as rescue operations. REHAB UNITS – A vehicle that is used at fire scenes to provide relief to responders and carries a variety of specialized equipment such as fans, misters and heaters. RIT (RAPID INTERVENTION TEAM) – A RIT unit can be a variety of units that responds specialized personnel to the scenes of fires, that are used in event a firefighter becomes trapped in a building. SPECIAL SERVICE – A vehicle that carries personnel and a variety of equipment, that is used to assist at fire scenes. SQUAD – A vehicle that carriers manpower and miscellaneous equipment. Not intended to respond as a primary vehicle to fires or accidents. SALVAGE – A vehicle that carries water vacuums, squeegees, tarps and other equipment to remove water from buildings. TANKERS/TENDERS – Any vehicle that carries 1500 or more gallons of water and has at least one dump valve and a portable folding tank on board will be classified a Tanker. TRUCK – A truck must have an aerial ladder, tower or articulating boom greater than 55 feet. Tele-Squirts are considered engines. UTILITY – A vehicle that carries personnel and a variety of equipment, that is used to assist at fire scenes.

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6. CAD UNIT AND RUN CARD CHANGES Department Chiefs must notify Allegheny County 9-1-1 in writing in advance of new apparatus being delivered, units that are being retired and services that may no longer be provided so that such changes can be made in CAD and run cards. A change in CAD can’t be made by telling a TCO over the phone or radio. Any change to run cards must be forwarded to the Allegheny County 9-1-1 CAD Division. 7. CALL UP RADIO PROCEDURE A radio transmission is initiated with the CALL UP PROCEDURE. The call up procedure will be to first identify whom you are calling and then to identify yourself. County calling unit example: 170 Engine 1, County (One Seventy Engine One) Unit calling County example: County, 180 Engine 1 (One Eighty Engine One) If a department has only one specific type of unit, then it’s not necessary for them to utilize a number. Example: 184 Engine, 163 Truck, 101 Tanker, etc. If a department has more than one specific type of apparatus, then the next number in the sequence will be used. Example: 118 Engine 1, 118 Engine 2, 197 Truck 2, etc. This is the required format that all fire departments that are serviced by the county will use.

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8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & ECHOING TCO’s will always “echo” the message given by the unit and ending the transmission with the “time”. Examples: Unit – 124 Chief enroute County – 124 Chief enroute, 12:13. Unit – 190 Engine 1 on scene County – 190 Engine 1 on scene, 15:33 Unit – 401 Chief, county County – 401 Chief Unit – 401 Chief county, dispatch the Red Team to assist the West Mifflin F.D. at the USS Irvin Works Plant for a Nitrous Oxide leak. County – Chief 401 requesting the Red Team to assist West Mifflin F.D. at USS Irvin Works Plant for a Nitrous Oxide leak. 9. AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE The words “affirmative” and “negative” shall be used on the radio in response to yes and no type questions. Again, the words "affirmative" and "negative" should never be transmitted alone. They must always be coupled with either the sending or receiving party ID. 10 Codes are not to be used. Example: COUNTY: 255 Engine 1, County, are you requesting a 2nd alarm? UNIT: 255 Engine 1 Affirmative. 10. AUTHORIZED RADIO & FREQUENCY USE The radio frequencies listed herein are for the dispatch of fire emergencies and for coordinating units operating at such incidents. These frequencies are not for conducting personal business but may be used for reporting non-emergency conditions such as disabled cars, street signs down, or traffic signals malfunctioning. The radio is not a substitute for the telephone. If a call can wait until you are near a phone, do not use the radio.

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11. LIMITING RESPONDERS TRANSMISSIONS The number of fire personnel equipped with portable and mobile radios is of concern to the center. Often times the radio becomes congested with individuals calling and/or responding. For that reason the following guidelines are in place. For OUT OF DISTRICT ALARMS, only chief officers shall call responding only if responding to the scene. For IN-DISTRICT ALARMS (home company), chief officers and junior officers (Captains, Lieutenants & Sergeants) may call responding to the scene. County will make every effort to acknowledge the response. Personnel simply responding to their station shall not report “responding” to County. Allegheny County will not be responsible for acknowledging all radio identifiers 12. COMPLIMENTARY REMARKS The words "please" and "thank you" will not be used on the radio. These words serve no purpose other than to tie up the radio longer. The tone of your voice will convey courtesy. 13. PERSONAL MESSAGES TCO’s may not accept nor make personal message calls for on duty fire personnel. However, messages of an emergency nature will be relayed to the persons involved. 14. COORDINATION OF MESSAGES When operating at the scene of an emergency with other emergency services, such as law enforcement or EMS, Fire Department personnel will coordinate their activities with the other emergency services to prevent duplicate requests for services at the scene such as notifying utilities and calling for towing services. 15. FREQUENCY USE RESTRICTION The use of public safety radio frequencies by non public safety personnel is strictly prohibited. Those wishing to program county owned radio frequencies into mobiles, bases and portables must receive permission from Allegheny County.

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16. DESCRIBING FIRE/RESCUE EMERGENCIES It is essential that the TCO obtain accurate and complete information from the caller so that the emergency can be described to responding units. However, this information must be described and relayed accurately, without long drawn out speeches. Specific information is important to relay to responding units. Such information shall be given out in a professional manner. Examples: INFORMATION RECEIVED AS INFORMATION GIVEN OUT AS House fire with people trapped Structure fire with entrapment Car fire going good Vehicle fire fully involved People stuck in an elevator Elevator Rescue Car over an embankment Vehicle accident, vehicle over embankment 2 car accident with people pinned Vehicle accident with entrapment

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SPECIFIC FIRE DISPATCHING 1. INTRODUCTION As of April 1, 2004, Allegheny County 9-1-1 is responsible for providing service for fire departments throughout Allegheny County. Allegheny County dispatches only those fire departments that formally request this service through their municipal governments. All Departments joining or utilizing Allegheny County for dispatch purposes are obligated to follow the procedures. 2. TELECOMMUNITCATOR (TCO) RESPONSIBILITIES TCO’s are required to move efficiently and make accurate decisions based on procedures in this section and with CAD when handling a fire call, whether they are receiving it by phone or radio. A difference of a minute might save a life or property. TCO’s have the authority to maintain clear communications with fire departments and are required to maintain them by switching departments to a fire ground operations frequency for all types of fire calls. TCO’s are required to notify the Lead TCO of any confirmed structure fires, vehicle accidents with entrapment, hazardous materials incidents or any other high priority incidents that are ongoing. The Lead TCO is responsible for notifying the Shift Commander of such incidents. If Lead TCO is not on duty then the TCO is to notify the Shift Commander. 3. CAD (COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH) Once a fire/rescue call has been entered into CAD, the fire dispatcher shall call up the call and review the information. Once reviewed, CAD will recommend a fire response for the incident. The TCO shall always dispatch the response recommended by CAD and not deviate from it for any reason without authorization from the Shift Commander. 4. CAD NARRATIVES The TCO will enter all updated information pertaining to fire calls throughout the incident, such as descriptions, tactics and any information which command is reporting to County.

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5. DISPATCH FORMAT/CADENCE All fire/rescue incidents dispatched by Allegheny County 9-1-1 will be announced in the following format/cadence listed below. All dispatches will include common names & business name information when provided in the call details. In the East, North and South zones, when reading the Run Card the dispatcher is to check for the home company due for the call. If all units due on the call are from that home company, the dispatcher is to only verbally announce the home company. Per policy all fire/rescue incidents are to be dispatched not according to the nature type, but by the incident description entered into the call. For instance if the call is for a dryer fire in a residence, the call will be entered into CAD using the type code FRRES1 and then the call shall be dispatched as a dryer fire. It is necessary on all fire dispatches that the units designated as RIT (Rapid Intervention Team), FP (Fire Police), FM (Fire Marshal), SFT (Safety) etc. are dispatched as such over the radio on the initial dispatch. On each dispatch the TCO must review the Standard Response and the Response Patterns (located in the run card diagnostics area of the dispatch display) in CAD to ascertain what the resources functions are. Example: Standard - 247EN1 246EN2 259EN1 252EN1 191TK1 297TK1 312RQ40 149RQ1 254SQ1 510FM1 515FM1 Response - **EN EN EN EN TK TK RQ RIT FP FM SFT** There are 4 Engines, 2 Trucks, 2 Rescues, 1 Squad and 2 Fire Marshal units listed. For special units one rescue is assigned as a RIT (149RQ1). The squad is assigned as an FP (254SQ1). One fire marshal unit is assigned as FM (510FM1) and the other as SFT (515FM1). The incident would be dispatched as follows: 247 ENGINE, 246 ENGINE 2, 252 ENGINE, 191 TRUCK, 297 TRUCK, 312 RESCUE 40, 149 RESCUE FOR RIT, 254 SQUAD FOR THE FIRE POLICE, 510 FIRE MARSHAL, & 515 FIRE MARSHAL FOR THE SAFETY, UNITS RESPOND ON NORTH FIRE 3. As the fire departments continue to expand and specialize run cards, the RIT, FM, FP and SFT responses will appear. It is essential that this procedure is followed so the fire departments can respond with the appropriate unit and knowing what that unit assignment is (RIT, FP, FM, SFT).

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This is being done to shorten the dispatch cadence by eliminating the announcing of units out of the Home Company. Units are recommended in CAD according to their unit type, meaning, the engines will be listed, then the rescue units, then trucks, etc. One must pay particular attention to include the home station on the verbal dispatch, then announce the specific units due on the call as mutual aid by unit type. DISPATCH PROCEDURE

D” Dispatch Command in CAD (Allows MDT and Text Messages sent) Station Pager Tones on Gold Elite (Limit to 1 set per station) Call Type Description (Not specifically exact type code) Address of Incident with Common Place name, if applicable City, Township or Borough Station(s) due on Incident (Home company First, check RD in CAD)

o CAD will continue to display “Units” due on alarm Operations Channel Time

The only exception is for RIT. Any station, recommended on the initial dispatch for RIT, will be announced as “RIT” Example: Commercial Structure Fire, 5001 Curry Road, Baldwin Borough Tommy’s Pizza, Stations 104, 107, 270 and 116 for RIT on South Fire Operations 5 at 14:20 hrs.” CAD will continue to utilize the current Resource Based, Unit Driven Run Cards. This is a change to the Radio protocol only. After the initial dispatch, any and all requests of Mutual Aide shall be dispatched according to unit needed or recommended regardless if request if verbal or run card driven. As a reminder, the act of stacking fire station pager tones on the Gold Elite Radios is not permitted and shall not be done. In cases where EMS is requested to respond along with the fire department to calls and they share the same dispatch channel, the TCO will dispatch EMS in the same sequence as the fire departments in the dispatch format (cadence). All the TCO has to do is add the EMS station at the end of the fire run card.

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Dispatching Across Zones For all calls that require fire dispatching across zones, the Fire Dispatcher controlling the incident (call) will alert those units from another zone on the initial dispatch. This will be done by Simul-selecting all of the main fire channels and then following the standard dispatching protocols. Once the call has been dispatched the primary dispatcher will control those units. Also those agencies responding from another zone will move to the dispatch/operations channel which the primary agency is operating on once they arrive on scene. Dispatching Fire Departments from different Fire Dispatch Desks within the same Zone to the same incident For all calls that require fire dispatching from different desks from the same zone, responding to the same incident, the Fire Dispatcher controlling the incident (call) will alert those units. Once the call has been dispatched the primary dispatcher will control those units. Also those agencies responding from another zone will move to the dispatch/operations channel which the primary agency is operating on once they arrive on scene.

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Type Code Update/Fire Department Re-Tone When working a fire dispatch position and a call is escalated from the original entry i.e. (Smell of Smoke – FRCOM2/FRRES2) to Fire and/or Flames seen (FRCOM1/FRRES1) the call type must be updated and a re-recommend must be done with each type change. With the new cards that are being implemented there may be a change in response. Changing the call type and re-recommending units assures the appropriate resource response is being dispatched. This is the same as going from an accident with unk-injuries to injuries or entrapment. Whenever a 2nd alarm or higher is requested the TCO must move the call to FRRES1 or FRCOM1 recommend the units at this level prior to going to a 2nd alarm. This will insure that all units on the first alarm are being notified. For all fire events that are updated and re-recommended, the dispatcher shall dispatch/page the recommended units including the home company. This is done so the units and personnel dispatched on the initial alarm are aware the call has escalated. Example: A fire alarm is dispatched and before units arrive on scene additional information received indicates that the building is on fire, or a fire unit arrives on scene and reports a fire. When this happens the following procedure is to be followed. TCO, if not the call taker will update the call in CAD using the new type code. TCO will recommend a new dispatch, by clicking the RECMND button or typing RR (.call number) TCO will activate tones for all units already responding to the call and those that are newly recommended on the new dispatch. Example: 304 Engine 1 on scene, we have a working structure fire County – 304 Engine 1 reporting a working fire Update the call in CAD with the correct nature code Re-recommend the dispatch Dispatch the call following the County Fire SOG’s. The dispatch is to include those units that were previously alerted on the old type code and those that are newly recommended on the new type code.

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Re-Activations In cases where fire departments/units have not acknowledged a call within five (5) minutes of the first activation, the TCO is to reactive those stations/units pager tones and re-announce the call by just utilizing the second part of the fire dispatch cadence Example: Station 124 hasn’t acknowledged a call for an accident with injuries on Thoms Run @ Washington Pike in Collier. Activation Station 124 tones Announcement Vehicle Accident with Injuries, Thoms Run @ Washington Pike, Collier Twp, Station 124 has been alerted, fire channel 2 assignment, 14:10. Additional Alarms (2nd, 3rd, 4th)/Special Requests For all additional alarms and/or special requests to incidents the following format will be utilized. Example: A 2nd Alarm has been requested for a Structure fire at 123 Main Street in Scott Twp. Command: GA .F00001 Activate Station 117 and 118 tones Announcement Residential Structure Fire, 123 Main Street, Scott Twp, is now a 2 Alarm fire, Stations 117 and 118 have been alerted, fire channel 2 assignment, 1800 hrs.

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If a request is received for additional alarms at once (2nd and 3rd), then the dispatcher has to dispatch each alarm individually. Command: GA .F00001 Activate Station 117 and 118 tones Announcement Residential Structure Fire, 123 Main Street, Scott Twp, is now a 2 Alarm fire, Stations 117 and 118 have been alerted, fire channel 2 assignment, 1800 hrs. Command: GA .F00001 Activate Station 117 and 128 tones Announcement Residential Structure Fire, 123 Main Street, Scott Twp, is now a 3 Alarm fire, Stations 117 and 128 have been alerted, fire channel 2 assignment, 1800 hrs. Filling Out/Completing Run Cards In cases where fire departments/units are not responding to a call after seven (7) minutes (apparatus must be on the road) the TCO will advise the OIC of the home district of the units that haven’t acknowledged or marked enroute. The OIC can either hold the run card as is, or request that the remainder of the run card be filled. The TCO will fill the run card by dispatching additional units using the below dispatch cadence. Example: 128 Truck & 163 Engine aren’t responding to a call for a structure fire at 89 Berry Street in Ingram. 118 Truck & 128 Engine are the next units due to fill out the run card. Activate Station 118 and 128 tones Announcement Residential Structure Fire, 89 Berry Street, Ingram Residential Structure Fire, 89 Berry Street, Ingram, Stations 128 & 118 have been alerted, fire channel 2 assignment, 1010 hrs

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FIRST RESPONDER/QRS FORMAT (DISPATCH LIKE A FIRE CALL)

D” Dispatch Command in CAD (Allows MDT and Text Messages sent) Station Pager Tones on Gold Elite (Limit to 1 set per station) Call Type Description and Priority (Not specifically exact type code) Address of Incident with Common Place name, if applicable City, Township or Borough Station(s) due on Incident (Home company First, check RD in CAD)

o CAD will continue to display “Units” due on alarm Operations Channel Time

Example: “D” Dispatch in CAD ST 140-7 Pager Tones First Responder Detail, E-0, 80 y/o male cardiac arrest,145 Broadlawn Drive, Elizabeth Twp, 140 Station 7 has been alerted, East EMS Dispatch,14:14.

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6. EAST ZONE SPECIFIC FIRE DISPATCHING East Zone fire departments respond on pre-selected operations channels after being dispatched to calls. Each department is assigned an operations channel based upon their geographical location. In the event that there are multiple incidents working on Fire Channel 2, TCO’s are permitted to assign additional fire incidents to the Public Safety Channel. For the first five minutes of the incident, all radio transmissions by County will be multi-transmitted on the fire dispatch and assigned fire operations channels. EAST FD DISP 1 EAST FD OPS 2 123 – Clairton VFD 131 – Dravosburg VFD 133 – Duquesne VFD 139 – Elizabeth VFD 140-3 – Elizabeth Twp Fire Rescue – (Elizabeth Twp VFC Station 3) 140-4 – Elizabeth Twp Fire Rescue (Greenock Station 4) 140-7 – Elizabeth Twp Fire Rescue (Central Station 7) 142 – Blaine Hill VFD (Elizabeth Twp) 145 – Buena Vista VFD (Elizabeth Twp) 154 – Gallatin-Sunnyside VFD (Forward Twp) 155 – Forward Twp VFC #1 156 – Bunola VFD (Forward Twp) 161 – Glassport VFC #1 183 – Liberty VFD 184 – Lincoln VFD 190 – McKeesport FD 237 – Vigilant VFD (Port Vue) 272 – Coulter VFD (South Versailles) 286 – Versailles VFD 291 – West Elizabeth VFD 299 – White Oak VFC #1 300 – Rainbow VFD (White Oak) 354 – Sutersville VFD

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EAST FD OPS 3 113 – Braddock VFD 114 – Braddock Hills VFD 120 – Chalfant VFD 122 – Churchill VFD 135 – United Fire Rescue (East McKeesport) 136 – East Pittsburgh VFD 137 – Edgewood VFD 153 – Forest Hills VFD 171 – Homestead VFD 207 – North Braddock VFD 210 – Fire Department of North Versailles 211 – West Wilmerding VFD (North Versailles0 212 – Crestas VFD (North Versailles) 213 – Fire Department of North Versailles 214 – Fire Department of North Versailles 221 – Penn Hills VFC #1 222 – Penn Hills VFC #2 223 – Penn Hills VFC #3 224 – Penn Hills VFC #4 225 – Penn Hills VFC #5 226 – Penn Hills VFC #6 227 – Penn Hills VFC #7 229 – Pitcairn VFC #1 230 – Pitcairn VFC #2 233 – Unity VFC #1 (Plum) 234 – Renton VFC #2 (Plum) 235 – Logans Ferry VFC #3 (Plum) 236 – Holiday Park VFC #4 (Plum) 238 – Rankin VFD 278 – Swissvale FD/VFD 283 – Turtle Creek VFD 285 – Verona VFD 292 – West Homestead VFD 298 – Whitaker VFD 302 – Wilkins Twp VFC #1 303 – Wilkins Twp VFC #3 304 – Wilkins Twp VFC #4 EAST P SAFETY

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Tactical Channels AC County Wide Fire TAC 3 – 453.3375, PL 91.5 AC County Wide Fire TAC 4 – 473.6625, PL 210.7 Sutersville VFD – Station 354 When Sutersville (ST 354) is recommended for dispatch in CAD, the unit will be dispatched along with the other units. ST 354 has pager tones that activate on East Fire Disp 1. Even though they have been dispatched on East Fire Disp 1, Westmoreland 9-1-1 still needs notified so they can dispatch them on their respective radio channels.

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7. NORTH ZONE (NORTHWEST) SPECIFIC FIRE DISPATCHING With the exception of Aleppo, Ohio, Neville, Sewickley and Leetsdale all (Northwest) fire departments are dispatched and respond on a predetermined operations channel. Radio Channels NTH FD DISP 7 NP 158 – Franklin Park VFD 186 – Highland VFD (McCandless) 187 – Ingomar VFD (McCandless) 188 – Peebles VFD (McCandless) OHIO FIRE 2 101 – Aleppo Twp VFD 220 – Ohio Twp VFD N BOROS FIRE (Kennedy) 103 – Avalon VFD 108 – Bellevue VFD 109 – Ben Avon VFD 148 – Emsworth VFD 205 – Neville Island VFD 258 – Cochran Hose VFD (Sewickley) 309 – Leetsdale VFD N BOROS FIRE RPT 103 – Avalon VFD 108 – Bellevue VFD 109 – Ben Avon VFD 148 – Emsworth VFD

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8. NORTH ZONE (NORTH) SPECIFIC FIRE DISPATCHING North Zone (North) fire departments respond on pre-selected operations channels after being dispatched to calls. Each department is assigned an operations channel based upon their geographical location. In the event that there are multiple incidents working on Fire Channel 2, TCO’s are permitted to assign additional fire incidents to the Index Channel. When the Index Channel needs to be used for fire incidents, TCO’s are to alert the all police agencies that Index is closed and all Index queries are to be conducted on their respective dispatch channels. The Index Channel is known to the fire departments as the EMGT1 Channel. Make sure when you move the fire departments to the Index Channel that you tell them to “Switch to the Emergency Management Channel.” For the first five minutes of the incident, all radio transmissions by County will be multi-transmitted on the fire dispatch and assigned fire operations channels. NTH FD DISP 1 NTH FD OPS 2 115 – Bradford Woods VFD 157 – Fox Chapel VFD 164 – Hampton Twp VFD 165 – North Hampton VFD 172 – Dorseyville VFD, Indiana Twp 174 – Middle Road VFD, Indiana Twp 175 – Rural Ridge VFD, Indiana Twp 185 – Marshall Twp VFD 216 – Oakmont VFD 228 – Wexford VFD, Pine Twp 241 – Richland Twp VFD 242 – Valencia VFD, Richland Twp 273 – Springdale VFD 288 – West Deer VFC #1 289 – West Deer VFC #2 290 – West Deer VFC #3 315 – Allegheny Valley Fire Rescue

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NTH FD OPS 3 102 – Aspinwall VFD 111 – Blawnox VFD 149 – Etna VFD 191 – Millvale VFD 217 – Pleasant Valley VFD, O’Hara Twp 218 – Parkview VFD, O’Hara Twp 239 – Mt. Troy VFD, Reserve Twp 240 – Spring Garden VFD, Reserve Twp 246 – Evergreen VFD, Ross Twp 247 – Berkeley Hills VFD, Ross Twp 248 – Perrysville VFD, Ross Twp 249 – Quaill VFD, Ross Twp 250 – Seville VFD, Ross Twp 251 – Fairview VFD, Ross Twp 252 – Keating VFD, Ross Twp 253 – Laurel Gardens VFD, Ross Twp 254 – Ross Twp Fire Police 259 – Bauerstown VFD, Shaler Twp 260 – Cherry City VFD, Shaler Twp 261 – Elfinwild VFD, Shaler Twp 262 – Shaler Villa VFD, Shaler Twp 263 – Sharpshill VFD, Shaler Twp 264 – Undercliff VFD, Shaler Twp 265 – Sharpsburg VFD 297 – West View VFD NTH P SAFETY

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9. NORTH ZONE (ALLEGHENY VALLEY) SPECIFIC FIRE DISPATCH North Zone (Allegheny Valley) fire departments respond on their dispatch channel (either UHF or Low Band) after being dispatched to calls. It’s necessary to multi-select both Tarentum Fire and Tarentum 33.86 channels for all calls. For the first five minutes of the incident, all radio transmission by County will be multi-transmitted on the fire dispatch and assigned fire operations channels. NTH FD DISP 6 AV 112 – Pioneer Hose VFD, Brackenridge 134 – East Deer VFD 150 – Fawn VFC #1 151 – Fawn VFC #2 159 – Frazer VFC #1 160 – Frazer VFC #2 167 – Citizens Hose VFD, Harrison Twp 168 – Hilltop Hose VFD, Harrison Twp 169 – Harrison Hills VFD, Harrison Twp 280 – Highland Hose VFD, Tarentum 281 – Eureka Hose VFD, Tarentum 282 – Summit Hose VFD, Tarentum Tactical Channels AC County Wide Fire TAC 1 – 453.9375, PL 82.5 AC County Wide Fire TAC 2 – 453.3125, PL 97.4

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10. SOUTH ZONE (WEST) SPECIFIC FIRE DISPATCHING For all fire calls in the Southwest Region, after the initial dispatch the station(s) will automatically respond on Fire Operations 2, Fire Ground 6 for operations, the only time this will not take place is in the event that there is another incident on that channel. Units will then be advised by County on what Fire Operations, Fire Ground channels to move to. For the first five minutes of the incident, all radio transmissions by County will be multi-transmitted on the fire dispatch and assigned fire operations channels and fire paging channels. WEST FD DISP 1 WEST FD OPS 2 117 – Bridgeville VFD 118 – Carnegie VFD 124 – Kirwan Heights VFD (Collier) 125 – Presto VFD (Collier) 126 – Rennerdale VFD (Collier) 128 – Crafton VFD 163 – Greentree VFD 170 – Heidelberg VFD 176 – Ingram VFD 189 – McKees Rocks VFD 215 – Oakdale VFD 255 – Bower Hill VFD (Scott Twp) 256 – East Carnegie VFD (Scott Twp) 257 – Glendale VFD (Scott Twp) 266 – Cuddy VFD (South Fayette) 267 – Sturgeon VFD (South Fayette) 268 – Fairview VFD (South Fayette) 269 – Oakridge VFD (South Fayette) 275 – Stowe Twp VFD 277 – Presston VFD (McKees Rocks) WEST FD OPS 3 WEST FD OPS 5 209 – North Fayette Twp VFD 243 – Forest Grove VFD (Robinson Twp) 244 – Groveton VFD (Robinson Twp) 245 – Moon Run VFD (Robinson Twp)

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North Fayette Fire Dispatch Procedure North Fayette Fire Department (Station 209) will be dispatched in a similar fashion as the rest of the South Zone fire departments. The only difference is that they will be simulcast dispatched on both South Fire 1 and 33.76, instead of South Fire 1 and one of the VHF paging radios. For Station 209 district fire calls

1. Depress the pre-alert icon for 33.76 2. Simul-select the South Fire 1 and North Fayette 33.76 radios 3. Announce the call 4. Activate pager tones 5. Re-announce the call

In cases where North Fayette is responding as an assist company

1. Depress the pre-alert icon for South Fire 1 2. Simul-select the South Fire 1, VHF Paging and North Fayette 33.76 radios 3. Announce the call 4. Activate pager tones 5. Re-announce the call

The Station 209 icon as been programmed to send the pager tones over both South Fire 1 and North Fayette 33.76 radios.

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11. SOUTH ZONE (SOUTH HILLS) SPECIFIC FIRE DISPATCHING South Zone (South) fire departments respond on pre-selected operations channels after being dispatched to calls. Each department is assigned an operations channel based upon their geographical location. In the event that there are multiple incidents working on Fire Operations channels, TCO’s are permitted to assign additional fire incidents to the Public Safety channel. For the first five minutes of the incident, all radio transmissions by County will be multi-transmitted on the fire dispatch and assigned fire operations channels. STH FD DISP 1 STH FD OPS 2 119 – Castle Shannon 130 – Dormont VFD 198 – Mt. Lebanon VFD In cases where STH FIRE OPS 2 channel has a working incident and a second call comes in for agencies assigned to that channel for operations; assign the units to MTL P SAFETY 5. STH FD OPS 3 178 – Gill Hall VFD (Jefferson Hills) 179 – Floreffe VFD (Jefferson Hills) 180 – 885 Area VFD (Jefferson Hills) 232 – Pleasant Hills VFD 270 – Broughton VFD (South Park) 271 – Library VFD (South Park) STH FD OPS 5 104 – South Baldwin VFD (Baldwin) 105 – Baldwin Independent VFC #1 106 – Becks Run VFD (Baldwin) 107 – Option VFD (Baldwin) 116 – Brentwood VFD 199 – Mt. Oliver VFD STH P SAFETY MTL P SAFETY 5

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Tactical Channels AC County Wide Fire TAC 5 – 458.3375, PL 94.8 AC County Wide Fire TAC 6 – 458.6625, PL 218.1 12. CENTRAL ZONE (PITTSBURGH) For all fire calls in the City of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire will be dispatched on Fire Channel 5. For all calls reporting a possible structure fire, those calls will be dispatched on Fire Channel 5 & 6. Units will then be advised to respond on Fire Channel 6 for operations. PGH FIRE 1 PGH FIRE 2 Station # 231-3 Strip District 231-26 Brookline 231-4 Uptown 231-27 Mt. Washington 231-6 Lawrenceville 231-28 Beechview 231-7 Stanton Heights 231-29 Westwood 231-8 East Liberty 231-30 Elliott 231-10 Upper Hill District 231-31 Sheridan 231-12 Greenfield 231-32 Spring Garden 231-13 Hazelwood 231-33 Marshall/Shadeland 231-14 Oakland 231-34 Observatory 231-15 Lincoln-Larimer 231-35 Brighton Heights 231-16 Wilkinsburg 231-37 Manchester 231-18 Squirrel Hill 231-38 Northview Heights 231-19 Swisshelm Park 231-20 Hays 231-22 Arlington 231-23 Carrick 231-24 South Side

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13. STATUS CHECKS When an incident reaches fifteen (15) minutes from the time the incident was dispatched, the TCO will contact command or OIC and determine if they can move the incident from the operations channel to a tactical channel. When an incident reaches thirty (30) minutes advise them that the incident has been active for a period of thirty (30) minutes. A status check is to be repeated every thirty (30) minutes afterwards for the duration of the incident unless instructed to do otherwise by the OIC. During the status check, it’s possible that Command may request a PAR check from County. 14. GO/RIT TEAMS Another term, which is frequently used in place of Go-Team, is RIT Team. These teams are used primarily to facilitate rescues of down/trapped firefighters. For the most part each Region has specific GO-Teams established and will activate them as needed. If they are not already established, Command will assign these units once they arrive on scene. 15. PAR – PERSONNEL ACCOUNTABILTY REPORTING A PAR gives command an opportunity to get status reports on all his units and personnel on scene of a working incident. At any given point during the incident Command may request a PAR. Once the request is made the following procedure shall be enacted. Select the appropriate pre-alert icon or depress the #1 pre-alert for 3 seconds over the appropriate radio frequencies that you can transmit on and announce “County to all units operating at (location), command request PAR”. After the request is made over the radio, all units on scene will be calling command to verify that all personnel are accounted for. Example: 1 Pre-Alert County to all units operating at 308 Scenery, Command requesting a PAR After a PAR has been initiated, the TCO is to confirm with Command that they received a PAR (all the units checked in) and they will document the PAR in CAD.

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16. EVACUATION POLICY In the event that fire command request that all firefighters operating inside a building are to be evacuated due to the current conditions of the building deteriorating, the dispatcher is to enact the following procedure. Depress the #2 pre-alert for 3 seconds over the fire radio channels that you can transmit on associated with the incident and can be transmitted on announce “County to all units operating inside (location), evacuate the building immediately, repeat evacuate the building immediately.”

For example South Zone: South - Announcement would be made on Fire 1, 2, 3, 5 & Pub Sfty West – Announcement would be made on Fire 1, 2, 3 & 5 North Zone: North Hills – Announcement would be made on Fire 1, 2, 3, Pub Sfty and Local Government. Northwest – Announcement would be made on N Park Fire 1, Ohio Fire 2, Kennedy & N Boro Fire Repeater. Agh Valley – Announcement would be made on Allegheny Valley Fire East Zone: East – Announcement would be made on Fire 1, 2, 3 & Pub Sfty

County will do this procedure once initially. The OIC may request additional evacuation tones as many times as necessary to ensure that everyone as been removed from the building. After 5 minutes, the TCO should contact the OIC and see if they request a PAR.

Example: #2 pre-alert County to all units operating inside 1234 Washington Street, command request you evacuate the building, repeat evacuate the building

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17. PRIORITY MESSAGES/EMERGENCY TRAFFIC In an emergency, when a unit has important radio traffic, a PRIORITY message will be given priority over all other radio transmissions. Use of the message shall be limited to the types of situations where life or personal injury is at stake, or critical situations requiring immediate assistance. Emergencies occur on public safety radio systems as a matter of routine. This guideline is designed to permit the handling of such emergencies. When an emergency occurs, the unit with the PRIORITY should address County by stating “Unit, PRIORITY”. The TCO will then request the location and type of priority the unit has. If there is no answer from the field unit, then additional necessary units will be sent to the requesting unit’s last known location. 18. MAY DAY ALERT In the event that a May Day is broadcast from the fire ground, it is essential that command is notified and that all firefighters operating clear the air and dispatch is to enact the following procedure. Depress the #3 pre-alert for 3 seconds Announcement ALL fire radio channels associated with the incident that can be transmitted on announce “County to all units operating (location), a May Day as been called, clear the air and maintain radio silence. Command did you copy the May Day? Command do you want the incident moved to another channel? Command do you want the May Day questions asked? If yes then: The TCO will then attempt to contact the person who reported the May Day and obtain the following information if possible. May Day Questions Have the person identify themselves (unit) and location where there at Is the person injured? How is their air supply? Is anyone with them? Are they trapped? Once the questions are asked, ask command if they need any resources.

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19. ECHOING/RE-BROADCASTING OF MESSAGES TCO’s will always re-broadcast messages from fire department units and personnel and ending the transmission with the time. Listed below are examples of situations and echoing. This does not mean that these examples are the only time echoing is to be utilized. There are 3 situations where a single pre-alert is to be utilized prior to echoing a message and they are: Fire Department Size-up’s Response Level Changes for Apparatus (cancels, response level changes, etc) Critical Incident Updates (confirmed fires, etc) Situations of Echoing Fire units calling enroute Fire units calling enroute with staffing levels Fire units calling on scene Fire units calling available Any report of a working fire Requests to expedite General orders from Command or OIC Examples of Echoing Units – 255 Engine 1 enroute with 5 County – 255 Engine 1 enroute with 5, 08:10. Unit – 117 Truck on scene County – 117 Truck on scene, 21:34. Units – 255 Chief on scene 403 Vanadium Rd, I have a working fire, single story building, command from side 1. County – 1 Pre-Alert, Units responding to 403 Vanadium Rd, Scott, 255 Chief on scene, working fire, single story building, command side 1. Unit – 147 Chief on scene, with a 2 story residential, nothing showing, command side 1. County – 1 Pre-Alert, 147 Chief on scene, with a 2 story residential, nothing showing, command side 1, 10:00.

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20. PRIORITIES, RESPONSE TIMES & RESPONSE FAILURES Priorities Fire incidents are broken down into 3 priorities (1, 2 & 3). There is a different criterion for each priority to be followed at all times. For all Priority 1 & 2 fire calls, the CAD run card must be filled within seven (7) minutes of dispatch (apparatus from the station must be on the road). For all Priority 3 fire calls, the CAD run card must be filled within ten (10) minutes of dispatch (apparatus from the station must be on the road). Response Times If a unit/station calls enroute to a call that they have not been dispatched to, advise the district officer or command of the units/stations that are responding. The maximum time a stations pager tones should be activated for any incident is two (2) times including the original dispatch. If a unit/station has not acknowledged the call within five (5) minutes after dispatch, activate their tones/pagers again. If a station had not responded in the allotted time of seven (7) minutes or ten (10) minutes and after two (2) pager activation, dispatch the next due station/unit. Response Failures In the event a department fails to acknowledge and respond after an emergency dispatch, and if no member of that department makes contact with The Center during said incident, it shall be noted in CAD. To replace any failed units the dispatcher will use the SUG command to replace the appropriate unit. If the SUG command does not recommend a unit, use the additional Alarm command and replace the unit that you require. The only two (2) units that will not be replaced from the run card will be SS (Special Service Vehicle) and ST (Station). In the event that a specific unit(s) do not acknowledge the call in the allotted time given within the SOG’s, the fire dispatcher will contact the OIC/Command that has marked on the air, or gone enroute to the call, advise him/her of the units responding and then ask him/her if they would like the rest of the assignment (run card) replaced.

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Example: Residential Fire Alarm, 1109 Bank Street, Bridgeville The run card lists Engine 117, Engine 268, Truck 117 and Truck 284 on the 1st Alarm. Engine 117 and Asst Chief 117-1 are the only units to call enroute in the allotted time. The dispatcher would then advise Asst. Chief 117-1 of the units responding and if he/she would like the rest of the assignment filled with other units.

Once again, only the OIC/Command has the authorization to modify a run card. 21. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF CALLS It’s not necessary for fire departments to acknowledge a call prior to those agencies having a unit respond (go en route) to the incident. An acknowledgement means that the company has personnel in station and is in the process of gathering a crew. An acknowledgement doesn’t mean the agency is exempt from having a unit responding in the time frame allotted in the Fire SOG’s. All fire departments must have a unit responding within the time frame allotted in the Fire SOG’s. The only time this will be exempt is when a Chief Officer of the agency requests that re-toning not be done (5 minutes), or filling the run card (10 minutes). When a station/unit calls County to acknowledge a call, County will not automatically repeat the dispatch information. Acknowledge the station/unit and wait for a reply. The station/units have to ask for the information; it will not be automatically assumed that is what they are requesting to begin with. 22. UNIT STATUS The TCO keeps track of the status of all units in CAD. It is therefore critical that the status of all units be kept current at all times, and that the TCO be informed of units that are available for dispatch from the scene of an incident already in progress. Status Changes must be reported to and acknowledged by the TCO.

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23. RESPONSE LEVELS/CHANGES The terminology that is to be used when changing the response of emergency apparatus to incidents is to be in plain English. The three (3) recognized response level changes are:

Emergency Non-Emergency Cancel

Codes, colors or any other terms used are not to be acknowledged. 24. SCENE SAFETY When fire units are dispatched to incidents where there has been or has the potential for violence which may threaten the safety of responding emergency service personnel, County will make every effort to provide you with information about the conditions at the scene. County will not make assumptions about the scene, but can only relay what information is known and then responding units can make decisions about their response and approach. When the units/stations respond for such calls, i.e. shootings, stabbings, fights, suicides, County will provide details of the call, preferably by phone along with information concerning police response. Anytime responding units are in doubt as to the situation or their safety, stop and ask. Do not make assumptions. 25. RADIO ALERTING/PAGING – GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS County will activate pagers on fire channels upon request. County will make radio announcements once company tones have been activated. This entails announcing any funeral details, work details, or situations, which would effect fire department operations or responses. Either the Lead TCO or Shift Commander must approve all radio announcements before being given out. The paging format shall be to transmit the tones, announce who is being activated and give the message. COUNTY: [transmit pager tone], Station 163, County, call The Center All paging shall be for official fire business. Although it may be desirable to have pager tone encoding capability at the station, it must be kept in mind this may lead to indiscriminate paging of personnel. When planning for any type of change or addition to your department's alerting equipment, it is essential to consult The Center in your planning stage. There are statewide standardization plans in place to which local departments must adhere.

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26. ALPHA NUMERIC PAGING/TEXT MESSAGES The alpha numeric paging of fire departments and fire department personnel is done automatically through CAD. Alpha numeric paging is not recognized as a primary means of dispatching. Manual alpha numeric paging can also be performed by TCO’s. This function is primarily used for notifying the Salvation Army, County Hazmat Teams, Fire Marshals and other ACES officials. You can page individuals through CAD either by name, unit ID or groups. To page a person or a group of individuals use the following format from the command line. PG A401, A402, A4011K, FIRE MARSHAL DETAIL, 123 MAIN STREET, CARNEGIE, STRUCTURE FIRE WITH INJURIES. Make sure that when you alpha page that you include the type of detail, address, town location, nature of incident and any information which will be vital to their response. All alpha paging that is done through CAD, the TCO must utilize the “M” function to place that information into the incident. 27. INCIDENT STATUS CHANGES If a call is changed in status, updated information will be provided to the responding units in a timely manner. 28. INCIDENTS REPORTED DIRECTLY FROM AGENCIES Any incident reported directly from agencies and field units to County will be dispatched in accordance with County Fire SOG’s. The dispatcher will not deviate from the CAD recommended responses. In other words, when a police officer request one (1) engine to respond to a trash fire and CAD recommends three (3) engines to respond, dispatch the three (3) engines. Only the fire OIC can alter a CAD response; police or EMS personnel can’t alter fire responses. Anytime a police or EMS unit requests something other than the recommended dispatch, the dispatcher is to follow the CAD recommendation, but they’re to advise the fire department of alerted response request.

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29. INCIDENT CANCELLATIONS Once a dispatch has been initiated, COUNTY shall not cancel responding units based upon information received from additional telephone calls or police units that may be on the scene. COUNTY shall advise units responding, or make a general announcement of information received about the reported emergency and await orders for the disposition of the assignment. When a request for cancel is made, an OIC or field unit makes that decision. If a field unit or OIC on scene request that another unit(s) responding to their location is to cancel, echo that information to the responders. The Center is not canceling the unit; it is the field unit or OIC on scene making the request. TCO’s are passing information from one source to another. All cancellations will be documented in CAD. The documentation will include the identity of the person requesting the cancellation. If our center receives a call from an Alarm Company reporting an Automatic Fire Alarm and then the company calls back a minute later to cancel the alarm, TCO’s may accept the cancellation, ONLY if the call has not been dispatched. Once the call has been dispatched, County will not cancel units, only advise. Alarms that have already been dispatched Receiving calls from the business/residence requesting a cancellation of the alarm will not be accepted. The call must come from the Alarm Company. Advise the business/resident to contact their Alarm Company, County will advise the responding units of the information they received. Alarms that have NOT been dispatched In the event that a business/residence calls to report they activated their fire alarm and it’s false, and their alarm company has yet to report the alarm to County, enter this as a fire miscellaneous and close the event. It is not necessary to enter this call and dispatch the fire department, since an alarm company has not reported it and the business/resident is reporting it as a false alarm.

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30. MEDICAL HELICOPTER REQUESTS Field personnel (police, fire or EMS) on the scene, or responding to the scene of an emergency where they feel a medical helicopter may be needed should advise COUNTY to place a helicopter from a specific service on stand by and request an ETA. Once the ETA has been established, the TCO will advise field personnel. In the event that the requesting person/agency does not specify which medical helicopter service they want, County will place calls to both Life Flight and STAT Medevac, obtain ETA’s and provide that information to incident command. Allegheny County Emergency Services 9-1-1 in conjunction with Allegheny County EMS Council, Life Flight and STAT Medevac are instituting standard countywide landing zone (LZ) frequencies/channels to be used for all incidents where aero medical helicopters are needed. These channels have been programmed into all aero medical units. There are two (2) channels on each radio platform that can be utilized. They are: VHF High Band Platform Allegheny County EMS Dispatch – 155.205, PL 100.0 Allegheny County EMS Ops – 155.175, PL 100.0 UHF Band Platform CW LZ TAC – 453.5375, PL 186.2 (simplex, non repeated) The 9-1-1 Center is to take the lead in assigning the CW LZ TAC channel for all landing zone details, for the field units at the landing zone and Air Medical units. Any agency reporting that they do not have access to this channel is to be reported to the Shift Commander. The Shift Commanders are then to advise ACES Radio of the problem. It is also necessary that the channels listed are programmed as how they are identified by the county. Utilizing different nomenclature will only confuse the dispatchers both at the county and the medical helicopter service.

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31. STORM MODE OPERATONS Storm Mode Operations may be placed in effect at any time, even in advance of expected storms, through a radio announcement. Storm Mode Operations can only be 1activated by the Shift Commander. Example: “All Units, COUNTY, Storm Mode Operations are now in effect, time” Storm Mode Operations stay in effect until lifted by County. Storm Mode Operations will be lifted as soon as possible after the weather event that caused it has passed and operating conditions within County begin to return to normal. If during a storm, or anytime it is felt County may have lost either receive and/or transmit capability, officers should attempt calling County by radio. If it is suspected a portion of, or the entire, radio network is inoperable; the officer should be certain someone has contacted County to verify that Communications Center personnel are aware of the For Fire Operations, the following shall take effect during Storm Mode Operations: TCO’s can modify run card assignments to where only the home (district) company responds to non-life threatening emergencies. For multiple calls in single district, it is permissible to group the incidents together and send units from other districts where calls are minimal to assist in covering the requests for service. This can be done to help elevate a fire department from being overwhelmed with calls. Fire Departments shall hold all non-urgent requests. Requests of utility and road crew notifications should be held until the storm subsides at which time the fire department can call them in or give a list to the Telecommunicator. URGENT requests will be accepted and forwarded at once. There are several communities in the County that have set up Storm Mode plans in order to help navigate and manage large numbers of requests for services in their community.

Elizabeth Twp Mt. Lebanon Ross Twp

When these communities, or any community that are impacted by severe weather, they will activate their EOC. Once an EOC is open, all non-priority, non-life threatening pending calls for that community at the 9-1-1 Center will be forwarded to them. The EOC will handle assigning units to the calls for service. All life threatening, or Priority 1 calls will remain at the 9-1-1 Center, and will be dispatched according to dispatch policy.

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Storm Mode Operations stay in effect until lifted by The Center. Storm Mode Operations will be lifted as soon as possible after the weather event that caused it has passed and operating conditions within The Center begin to return to normal. If during a storm, or anytime it is felt The Center may have lost either receive and/or transmit capability, officers should attempt calling The Center by radio. If it is suspected a portion of, or the entire, radio network is inoperable; the officer should be certain someone has contacted The Center to verify that Communications Center personnel are aware of the problem. Special instructions for interim communications will be given if necessary. 3322.. PLACING UNITS OUT OF SERVICE IN CAD When a unit is placed out of service, the TCO will place the unit out of service in CAD utilizing the OV command. A notation is to be added for the reason why the unit is out of service. The unit will remain on the Fire Status screen until the unit is placed back into service. In order to log the unit back in service disposition code F999 must be assigned to the unit in order to clear from CAD. It is no longer necessary for the Shift Commander to handle these details. A unit should only be logged off CAD if it will affect the run card response. Units calling them out of service while going to parades, fuel, etc. should not be logged OOS unless they will not be able to respond to a call.

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33. PAGER/SIREN TESTING ANNOUNCEMENTS Radio/Siren testing will be conducted on Saturday at 1200 hours. When conducting tests, TCO’s are to use the following format. Allegheny County with a radio test, time.

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34. ROAD CLOSURE & HYDRANT NOTIFICATONS When County is notified of a Road Closure, the TCO shall perform the following: 0700 hrs to 2200 hrs Enter the information in CAD Dispatch the command unit (COM) to the incident through CAD from 0700 hrs to 2200 hrs (this will send a text message). Make sure the nature code description field has road closure listed. Make announcement over the appropriate radio channels. Do not activate pager tones. If CAD paging is not operating, activate the home district pager tones and then make announcement over the radio channels. Print the information CAD Fax the information to the fire department Close call 2200 hrs to 0700 hrs Enter the information in CAD Print the information CAD Fax the information to the fire department Make a notation in CAD for the daylight crew to send the notification out following the 0700 – 2200 hours procedure. Do not close call until additional notifications are made on the daylight shift.

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When County is notified of a Hydrant being placed OOS, the TCO shall perform the following: 0700 hrs to 2200 hrs Enter the information in CAD Dispatch the command unit (COM) to the incident through CAD from 0700 hrs to 2200 hrs (this will send a text message). Make sure the nature code description field has hydrant OOS (out of service) listed. CAD Fax the information to the fire department Close call 2200 hrs to 0700 hrs Enter the information in CAD Print the information CAD Fax the information to the fire department Make a notation in CAD for the daylight crew to send the notification out following the 0700 – 2200 hours procedure. Do not close call until additional notifications are made on the daylight shift.

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35. ASSIST TYPE CODES ASTEE RQST ASST EMS – EMERGENCY E-0 ASTEN RQST ASST EMS – NON EMERGENCY E-3 ASTPE RQST ASST POLICE – EMERGENCY P-0 ASTPN RQST ASST POLICE – NON EMERGENCY P-3 ASTFE RQST ASST FIRE – EMERGENCY F-0 ASTFN RQST ASST FIRE – NON EMERGENCY F-3 These type codes can be used when one discipline is requesting another to respond to an incident. Example: If the police are requesting EMS to respond Emergency to assist them, the dispatcher would enter the RA command using ASTEE as the type code. If the police are requesting fire Non-Emergency to assist them, the dispatcher would enter the RA command using the ASTFN as the type code. With that said it is important for the requesting TCO to enter comments into the request as to why the discipline being requested is needed. These 6 codes will not generate any unit recommendations and the receiving dispatcher must update the call to the proper response type for the agency to get a response. QRS units requested to assist EMS that are not on the original dispatch will still be RA’d using the proper E-0, E-1, E-2, E-3 or E-4 type code based on the priority of the EMS call.

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36. FIRE DEPARTMENT MOVE UPS CAD has the ability for Fire Chiefs to specify whether or not Move Ups per Alarm level are to occur automatically or to simply remain on file in case the OIC asks for them. For example, in the City of Pittsburgh their First Alarm transfers are NOT automatic. On the command line the Fire Dispatcher receives only the responding units. When the OIC calls for First Alarm transfers, the dispatcher simply types “RM .F” and CAD will automatically build out the appropriate Move Ups. On higher alarms the transfers occur automatically, so on a second alarm the dispatcher receives not only the responding companies but also the Move Ups at the same time. If the Move Ups do NOT appear on the Command Line, then they are not to occur on initial dispatch. They will still show in the Dispatch Window and Run Card checker, but these are for reference purposes only. Below are screen shots from a County Fire call showing how this works. The first screen shot shows a Command Line with Automatic Move Ups. The dispatcher would send all the responding units AND notify the Move Up companies to respond to the corresponding station (either stand by in their own station or move to another station).

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The next screen shots show the same dispatch recommendation without Automatic Move Ups even though they are listed on the Dispatch Display and Run Card checker:

So even though the Dispatch Window and Run Card checker shows the Move Ups, in the second scenario they would NOT be dispatched until the OIC requests it.

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Once the OIC request the Move Ups, the dispatcher would issue the RM command on the Call Number (notice the original Dispatch command did not indicate any Move Ups, they are manual for this Alarm Level):

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37. PAID FIRE DEPARTMENT OFF-DUTY NOTIFICATIONS

MCKEESPORT FIRE DEPARTMENT

SECOND ALARM PROCEDURE

REQUEST FOR OFF DUTY CREWS MCKEESPORT FIRE DEPT.

When the Incident Commander (IC) requests a second alarm through the County 9-1-1 Center to respond off duty firefighters, the 9-1-1 Center will activate the firefighter call back system with the following procedure. (1) Activate a “pre-alert” tone and then the appropriate pager icon for the crew(s) or

ALL CALL, and then announce on fire dispatch “incident location is now a 2nd alarm fire”.

(2) Update the incident in CAD to a second alarm (3) Dispatch the CAD unit recommendations (4) The dispatcher will then send the following alpha page through CAD using the

page command (PG F190OFF).

‘PG’ tab> PagerNames: F190OFF, Message "ALL MCKEESPORT FIREFIGHTERS ARE REQUESTED TO RESPOND TO A WORKING FIRE AT "123 XYZ Street" CALL 412-473-7013 TO CONFIRM YOUR RESPONSE.

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*IF AN INDIVIDUAL CREW OR CREWS ARE REQUESTED FOLLOW THE SAME PROCEDURE BUT USING THE INDIVIDUCAL CREW PAGER ID FOR THE CREW(S) LISTED BELOW. CREW 1 – PG F190CR1 CREW3 – PG F190CR3 CREW2 – PG F190CR2 CREW 4 – PG F190CR4

If more than one crew is request at a time, simply leave a space between crews.

EXAMPLE (PG F190CR1 F190CR4, MESSAGE HERE) WOULD PAGE CREWS 1 AND 4.

SWISSVALE FIRE DEPARTMENT

SECOND ALARM PROCEDURE

REQUEST FOR OFF DUTY CREWS MCKEESPORT FIRE DEPT. When the Incident Commander (IC) requests a second alarm through the County 9-1-1 Center to respond off duty firefighters or the 278OFF unit appears for dispatch on the command line, the 9-1-1 Center will activate the firefighter call back system with the following procedure. (1) Activate a “pre-alert” tone and then the appropriate pager icon for the crew(s) or

ALL CALL, and then announce on fire dispatch “incident location is now a 2nd alarm fire”.

(2) Update the incident in CAD to a second alarm (3) Dispatch the CAD unit recommendations (278OFF) (4) The dispatcher will then send the following alpha page through CAD using the

page command (PG F278OFF).

‘PG’ tab> PagerNames: F278OFF, Message "ALL SWISSVALE FIREFIGHTERS ARE REQUESTED TO RESPOND TO A WORKING FIRE AT "123 XYZ Street" CALL 412-473-7013 TO CONFIRM YOUR RESPONSE.

Added 3-20-13